Which of your workers pass the Twitter “Fire Me” test?

by
HRM |
28 Feb 2014

It’s easy to forget the public nature of the internet – your boss doesn’t follow you on Twitter, so who cares if you tweet a message of hate, or a casual threat? A new app from Germany hopes to remind people that public messages mean anyone can see them, including bosses.

For HR professionals social media is a difficult area to manage. It’s important to ensure your staff aren’t badmouthing the company when they’re online, especially on public accounts, but do you really need to know who’s complaining about a bad day at work? The FireMe app is more useful for the latter, but it’s certainly eye-opening.

The app was developed by German researchers at the University of Hannover, who said they wanted to make people aware of the ramifications of their social media use.

“Our goal is to raise awareness about the danger of public online data,” the site states. “Most people seem to be unaware that, on the internet, once said, you can never take it back.”

It might seem obvious, but some users haven’t learned, as illustrated by cristianity94, who is currently sitting at the top of the site’s leaderboard with a 309% chance of being fired.

Some show they’re trying to control their instincts: “I'm gonna try so hard to not kill someone at work today”, one user said. Others are enough to make you stay home for the day: “I am literally gonna kill someone at work today.”

A word of warning before you check out the real thing – much of the language is not safe for work, and it could be an emotionally trying experience for bosses, who bear the brunt of tweeter’s frustrations.